Sheil Kapadia

Philly.com

"There are going to be some good players we're going to have to let go,'' Andy Reid said Saturday. And not necessarily on waivers. If your team wants Joselio Hanson and has a spare third- or fourth-rounder, the Eagles are probably in a dealing mood.

A third- or fourth-round pick seems like a pretty steep asking price for Hanson. Just a guess, but I've been thinking something like a sixth-rounder would make sense.

The Eagles obviously have Nnamdi Asomugha, Asante Samuel and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in the fold. And they drafted Curtis Marsh and Trevard Lindley the past two seasons.

I think Hanson is a very good nickel cornerback, but the fact that he was unable to win the right cornerback job last year should tell us something. In other words, Hanson can play well on the inside, but he has his limits as a player.

Babin has been getting a lot of mileage out of his recent Twitter post: "I feel like we are the Miami Heat of the NFL ... Except we win the final game." How does Giants DE Justin Tuck feel about that? "If they don't make the playoffs, who cares if they win their last game?"

The Eagles are the self-proclaimed “dream team” after some impressive offseason acquisitions that included one of the NFL’s top cornerbacks (Nnamdi Asomugha) and pass rushers (Jason Babin). While now on the spot to justify such braggadocio, the Eagles should be a nightmare for their NFC East rivals. The Giants should be Philadelphia’s strongest challenge but don’t be surprised if Dallas bounces back from last year’s 6-10 record. The Cowboys return all their top skill-position players on offense and should be more aggressive defensively under new coordinator Rob Ryan. Washington’s unsettled quarterback and running back situations make the Redskins a likely fourth-place finisher.

You may have seen this already, but Andre Maclin, Jeremy Maclin's older brother, tells Steve Greenberg of The Sporting News that Jeremy is fine and we'll know more about his status on Tuesday. Andre also said he's confident Jeremy will play this season.

Last season, former Eagles defensive coordinator Sean McDermott frequently blitzed his linebackers –- the Eagles used zone blitzes on 12.3 percent of defensive plays, second-most in the league -– yet they accounted for just 10.3 percent of the team's 39 quarterback sacks. Matthews' instincts may increase the effectiveness of first-year coordinator Juan Castillo's blitz packages.

For the record, I have seen the Eagles drop linemen into coverage on occasion at Lehigh, but don't expect to see much of that in 2011. I'm sure Trent Cole is going to be very disappointed.